Got on a hop on/hop off bus this morning and spent the day touring the city, stopping at certain locations. Even with all the modern buildings, the historical cultures of Singapore are still vibrant in Chinatown and Little India. We were impressed by the greenspace that exists. Everywhere you go, you will run across manicured parks and gardens, most small, but some of reasonable size. The biggest is the Singapore Botanical Gardens, an area that must be about ...

Got back to Singapore this afternoon and went for a long walk around our hotel, which is in the heart of Singapore. Everywhere you turn you are bombarded by evidence of wealth and vitality. Every shop in the malls seems to be an exclusive brand name -- except for the restaurants which remind you that this is Asia. Had a great Thai meal.

This has been a tough two days. It is now over 36 hours since we got up in Odessa and are now at the Residence of the Singapore Recreation Club in Singapore. We are here overnight and then off to Indonesia tomorrow. We spent all of yesterday killing time in Odessa waiting for our flight that left at 9:45pm, then connected in Istanbul at midnight and arrived at 4:30pm in Singapore. The flights on Turkish Airlines were fine--everything on time, good connection,...